


Magnetised

by mameshibes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, Vampires, Werewolves, sort of team cap and team iron man but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-06 04:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13403259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mameshibes/pseuds/mameshibes
Summary: Maybe making a deal with the most shady person he could think of wasn't the smartest idea, but Bucky had no other options left. He's tasked to go fetch something, but just as he suspects, the house he's meant to retrieve it from isn't quite as empty as Loki had made it seem.Tags will be updated as the story progresses.[ Supernatural AU ]





	1. NULLA

**Author's Note:**

> Reader doesn't appear yet, but soon, I promise.

“Would you like to make a deal?” Loki began with a smirk evident on his face. That look could mean only one thing, and it couldn’t possibly be anything good, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Swallowing hard, Bucky turned to look at the bartender, raising a brow. “What did you have in mind, Laufeyson?” he practically growled out.

“Well… I do think that something as difficult to craft as a shift regulating artefact needs something equally valuable in exchange, don’t you?” Oh no, Bucky didn’t like where this was going. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust frost demons, he had no problem with them, but Loki in particular was a notorious trickster, well-known for his shady ‘deals’ that never quite were what they seemed to be. Bucky had to ask Steve later how the hell this man even became the bartender, what if he slipped something in someone’s drink?

“Get to the point already,” Bucky insisted, the other man holding up his hands in mock surrender.

“You’ve heard of the abandoned house, located deep within the forest, right?” Loki questioned, but before Bucky could even answer him, he continued, “Well, there’s a particularly interesting item there, something I’ve been dying to get my hands on. A wooden staff to be precise, though to a simple creature such as you, it probably looks like a stick. If you retrieve it for me, maybe I’ll even let you play fetch with it.”

Bucky rubbed his temple, aware that getting mad at the man before him would do him no favours. Instead he thought it over within his head. Alright, so the reason he was here was because he heard Loki would be able to make him something that would keep his rather irregular shifts in check. Bucky had been a werewolf for as long as he could remember, but… certain things happened, and now that he was finally free again, he found himself randomly shifting due to his unstable state. It made it difficult for him to integrate in human society once again, and he felt bad that he couldn’t contribute to anything unlike the rest of his pack. He felt particularly guilty towards Steve, and even if he wouldn’t admit it, Sam. The two had allowed him to live on the couch of their apartment for as long as he needed to recover, but so far, progress was painfully slow.

And that’s why he just had to do this. Bucky was frustrated with how slow things were going, so he decided to take matters into his own hands, returning to the bar his friends had introduced him to some time back, carefully hidden from humans by way of special enchantments. Seems like some kind of wizard must’ve owed the owner a favour or two.

“…What’s the catch?” he questioned.

“Catch?” Loki said, a hint of mischief clear in his eyes, “there is no catch. If you bring it to me, I’ll aid you.”

It sounded too good to be true, and Bucky should’ve known better than to make shady deals with a strange bartender at 3 AM, but he was desperate.

Taking a deep breath, Bucky straightened himself.

“Deal.”


	2. I

“You did what?!” Steve practically shouted. Bucky quickly shushed him, not wanting to draw attention from the other patrons.

“Look, I know it’s risky, but I have to do it,” Bucky pleaded, and for a moment it looked as if Steve was going to lecture him, but to his surprise, Steve shut up. “I hate feeling so useless, and it’s been months Steve, it’s not getting any better!” he vented, resting his head on his hands.

“Hey man, we get it,” said Sam, seeming unusually supportive today, “some of us have made waaaay worse deals with him,” he continues and snickers, quickly looking back towards the group sitting on the opposite end of the bar. Bucky follows his line of vision, and catches Tony ironically waving a kiss towards the pack, causing Bucky’s frown to deepen and Sam to let out a hearty laugh.

“You’ve already made the deal right?” Steve questioned, and Bucky merely nodded. “Then we’ll go with you, it’s always better to be more prepared, that place must be abandoned for some reason.”

“I heard a powerful, cruel hag lives there,” Wanda chimed in, looking to her brother, Pietro, for reassurance. He nodded along and added, “people have heard strange voices, with humanoid and otherworldly coming from there. You know how hags can be, and if there’s really one living there…”

“Then as your pack, we’ll be there with you,” Scott added, giving Bucky a smile, though Bucky could see the fear hidden within Scott’s eyes. He knew that Scott had a daughter to return to, and that doing anything dangerous could jeopardise that, which is how he know how serious Scott was about this.

Bucky felt a strange sensation of camaraderie overcome him, one he hadn’t felt since the 40’s. A bond just like with his pack from back then, the Howling Commandos (and yes, the men had thought the name was hilarious).

As the banter continued into the night, the group noticed that it was getting late, and glances were exchanged as they realised that there was no better time to go than now. If anyone had to shift into their other form in case of emergency, now would be the time when people – especially humans - would hopefully not notice. With an unspoken agreement between them, the group stood up together and headed for the door.

“Rogers, where are you going?” came a female voice, most likely belonging to a very familiar redheaded vampire. She stood up from where she sat with her respective group, Tony Stark’s, a variety of vampires, and walked over to the door.

“Too obvious?” Steve responded with a sheepish look on his face. Natasha chuckled.

“Your group typically doesn’t leave with all of its members together,” she responded, “I hope you’re not up to anything dangerous.”

Steve briefly looked to Bucky, unsure whether or not he should divulge his friend’s problem, after all, it wasn’t his to speak of. Just as Steve was about to respond again, Bucky spoke up. “We’re actually gonna try running as a pack again, it’s been a while,” he answered. Natasha squinted, and for a moment, Bucky was afraid she’d see through his lie. Whether she knew or not, she ended up shrugging her shoulders, taking a sip from the glass in her hand.

“Alright, just be careful.”


	3. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets a little more exciting here. Also, reader finally appears! Also if you guys don't mind, please take a look at my newly made tumblr ( @ gendays ) where I'll post this series too!

A shriek came from the back of the group, followed by several people going ‘ssshhh’. Apparently, Sam had accidentally kicked a pebble around, and the sudden noise startled Scott quite a bit. As Scott was muttering all sorts of things to hide his embarrassment, Sam was about to make a joke to tease the poor man, when Bucky interrupted by holding a finger to his lips. His arm reflected the light of Wanda’s makeshift phone flashlight right into Pietro’s eyes, the latter growling and swatting the air in an attempt to make it stop. Bucky muttered a quiet ‘sorry’ before focusing his attention on the path once more.

Ah yes, the path… this is where it ended, but not where their journey ended, much to his dismay. Bucky gulped, looking onwards and seeing the forest becoming increasingly dense ahead of him. Breathing in deeply to calm himself, he moved onwards with Steve next to him. The walk was silent, with only occasional glances exchanged.

Having walked for what must’ve been an hour, they finally reached a clearing, and Bucky held his breath as he took in the sight of the rather forlorn looking house, covered from top to bottom in green. It wasn’t quite a mansion, but Bucky wouldn’t call it just an average sized house. Taking a careful step forward, he tried to look for traces of life, but all the plants ensured that it was quite difficult to see the actual state of the house. Deciding he couldn’t make out whether or not the house was still being used, he hoped with all his heart that if some terrifying hag was living there, she wouldn’t be home. Though it was the dead of the night, it was said that hags were more active during the night, going out and striking fear within the hearts of humans and supernatural folk alike.

“So this is it,” Sam muttered behind Bucky, “looks pretty creepy under the moonlight, right?” The others could only agree to Sam’s observation, looking onwards with hesitation. Bucky gulped.

“Well… it’s my deal, I’ll go get it myself,” he said.

“No way,” Steve interjected, “we came with you to help, so we’re coming into that house with you. Who knows what the inside is like? And besides, Loki never said you had to retrieve it on your own.”

Bucky wanted to argue, but seeing the determined look in the eyes of his best friend, swallowed his words and merely nodded. Taking this as his cue, Steve walked on ahead with determined steps, approaching the door. Bucky and the rest trailed after him, waiting on him to open the door. When Steve reached for the handle, he was surprised to find the door unlocked. Bucky hoped that this meant that the house was vacant, but maybe this hypothetical hag just enjoyed it when strangers came to her home. Shaking the thought off, Bucky followed Steve inside.

They were surprised to find the inside looking rather… cosy? Just as on the outside, plants covered many walls, but the furniture they spotted in the neighbouring room looked rather comfortable. And new. Okay, so this place was definitely still being used. That wasn’t good. Seeing the panicked expression on Bucky’s face, Steve put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay Buck, we’ll find that stick in no time, and then we’ll get out of here, okay?” he reassured him. Turning back to the others that were now inspecting the surroundings themselves, Steve cleared his throat as quietly as he could. “Let’s split up. This house seems rather big, and the sooner we get out of here, the better.” The others agreed with him, and the group split into two. Bucky, Sam and Steve remained downstairs, while Pietro, Wanda and Scott went upstairs.

“Wish Clint was here, he has eyes like that of a hawk, I bet we’d find that stick in no time with him,” Sam muttered, reflecting on their recently ‘retired’ friend. It wasn’t easy being a new parent, especially not when your children were probably also werewolves. Sam felt for the guy, but it wasn’t like they’d never see each other again.

Bucky walked in and out of several rooms, finding nothing that so much as resembled a large stick. He began to think that perhaps there wasn’t even a stick, when he heard a loud ‘Aha!’ coming from behind. Recognising the voice as Steve’s, he rushed over into the room, finding Steve triumphantly holding a large wooden stick. Sam joined them in the room shortly after. Bucky looked around him briefly, noting the fresh looking furniture once again, a reminder that this house was not abandoned. The notion sent chills up his spine, and he realised that their luck was not forever, and that they had to get out of there now.

Before he could call out to trio upstairs, he heard screams, followed by the hurried footsteps. Steve and Sam were on full alert as well, both of them ready to shift if it was deemed necessary, but as Steve pushed the stick into Bucky’s hands and ran out of the room to check on the others, he found himself being whipped across the room by a vine.

Sam and Bucky ran after him, barely dodging the vines that were now coming for them as well. Steve quickly got to his feet, thankful for his supernatural physique, and quickly turned around to see Wanda, Pietro and Scott being flung out of the door.

“Go!” Sam yelled, snapping him out of his trance, and the three of them ran as fast as they could, attempting to escape as the house started coming to life, Bucky felt the floorboards under him shift and lift, and he threw the stick to Sam in panic. Sam caught it with ease and made it out of the house, Bucky stepping back, took a deep breath, and took a leap across the pit in the floor that was increasing in size. Landing with a roll, Bucky got to his feet and high-tailed it out of there with the rest of the group.

It seemed like they were running for an eternity, and for some reason the forest seemed to be in on their chase. Bucky felt like previously clear paths were suddenly blocked off, members of the pack constantly tripping over a branch here and there. He let out a sigh of relief as the familiar bar came into sight once more, but didn’t stop running until he reached the door just in case the forest decided not to let up.

Practically kicking the doors open, the group came rushing in and the bar’s patrons gaze shifted to them, but Bucky didn’t care anymore. Looking towards Sam - who was still carrying the stick, thank God – Bucky held out his hand and Sam gave him the stick. His metal hand’s grip tightened on the stick as he took a few steps forwards, running his flesh hand through his hair in an attempt to get his dishevelled locks out of his face.

“I’ve got your damn stick, now fulfil your end of the deal,” he spit at Loki, the demon looking at him with amusement. Bucky put the stick onto the bar, and Loki came closer, inspecting it. He held it in his hands, twirling it around briefly. A grin made its way onto his face, and just as he was about to speak, he was suddenly slammed into the shelves behind him by an unseen force, the stick rolling out of his hands. Bucky was sure he could hear some of the bottles falling and breaking, and took a step backwards.

Loki merely sighed in defeat, knowing that struggling would do him no good. “Dear, you must know that those were expensive,” he said calmly. Bucky was confused until he heard someone else speak.

“And you, _dear_ , must know by now not to steal things from me.”


	4. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and you finally meet!

The click of your heels against the wooden floor announced your presence in a way unlike that of any regular person, almost as if your gait itself wished to drag those (un)fortunate enough to hear it six feet under. It had a certain hypnotic rhythm to it, and Bucky feared that a terrible curse might be upon him- no, upon them all. He briefly took you in, noting your outfit. You looked surprisingly normal, for his ideas of a witch at least, with the most notable feature being the coat draped over your shoulders that was very obviously not your size. If he didn’t have the faintest idea of who you were, Bucky would’ve probably never thought you a witch.

So that’s how they fit in.

As if you can read his thoughts, your eyes quickly moved to catch him mid-stare. Your expression was unreadable, but Bucky’s nerves were starting to get the best of him. He mentally cursed himself, thinking his reaction to be merely another symptom of his weak state. He feared you can read his thoughts, as you suddenly smiled, and Bucky tried his hardest to empty his mind somehow.

“Stay out of it, fido,” you mocked. Even if he wanted to say something back to you, a snarky remark like he’s slowly getting more accustomed to again, he finds his words catching in his throat.

So he just stared as you ever so casually picked up your stick, as if you didn’t just barge into the place and pinned the bartender to the shelves. You rotated it once, throwing it from hand to hand before settling it in your left. Bucky wondered when everyone went quiet, as he saw all the other patrons eyeing you. He saw the hesitation and doubt in his friends’ eyes, but also in that of Natasha’s group. Nobody quite knew what to do.

Loki coughed.

“Ah yes,” you started, and Loki promptly fell down, barely catching himself with a disgruntled noise. “Laufeyson, I told you, my staff will not work for you. Why do you insist on stealing it?” Your tone and expression spoke of a tiredness that told the tale, this was not the first time Loki had attempted to steal the stick, far from it. Bucky felt vaguely betrayed, and turned to glare at the man who looked at him, then back at you.

“If you’d only let me inspect it, I wouldn’t have to, darling,” Loki explained, and you rolled your eyes.

“And by inspect, you mean suspect. You know how this conversation ends, so let’s skip the pleasantries. Would you like to get thrown into another dimension again, or some other fun, experimental option?” you said, the amusement starting to become more clear on your visage. In fact, a sort of smugness appeared on your face- or at least, that’s how it looked to Bucky.

“Excuse me ma’am, but what is-“ Steve started, only to suddenly find his mouth literally glued shut. Before the horror of the situation could dawn on him, he found himself being able to open his mouth once more.

“Sssh. I do not answer question from thieves,” you explained, holding a finger to your face and slowly making your way towards Steve and the rest of the pack. “You people… what were you thinking, breaking into a stranger’s home?” you said with a giggle.

“We-“ Steve began, but he was cut off by Bucky.

“It’s my fault, and his,” he said, pointing at Loki, “he wanted me to get your sti- staff. If anyone deserves punishment, it’s me for accepting it in the first place.”

You look at him, once again donning your poker face, before you burst into laughter. Bucky furrowed his brows, confused at what exactly was so funny. Maybe you were just revelling in his misery.

“Punished? Who do you think I am- oh wait, lemme guess. Something amongst the lines of ‘The evil hag in the abandoned house’, right?” you said, holding back more laughter. “Listen, buddy, if I were an evil hag I would’ve ended that one long ago.” As you lifted your finger towards Loki, the man was once again held up by something. Bucky was surprised at how much Loki didn’t struggle, then again, he didn’t know if he even could.

“Yes, in fact, Y/N here is quite the softie, one time I caught her-“ Loki started in an attempt to tease you, but he was suddenly engulfed by a soft glow, and then disappeared.

Wanda gasped, raising her hand to cover her mouth. “W-what did you-“

“Relax, cutie,” you winked at her, causing her to blush and Pietro to protectively extend his arm in front of his sister, “I sent him on another fun ‘find the exit’ quest. He should be back tomorrow,” you explained with yet another smirk. Bucky found himself increasingly frustrated at your lacklustre attitude.

“Hey, as much as we all dislike him, he was supposed to give me a way to- well, he was supposed to help me!” Bucky protested, and you raised your brow at him.

“Old Loki? Nah, he’d probably say something about how he asked you to do it, and not your friends,” you said with a snicker, “either way, he wasn’t planning on fulfilling his end of the deal.”

Bucky looked at you, flabbergasted. “How do you know?! He was my only chance!”

“This isn’t the first time he’s done this, you know,” you said with a sigh. Before he could argue further, you came at him with supernatural speed, and grabbed his arm. That arm. He frowned and looked at you, and you looked up at him and frowned back. “Weird. I’m only getting a limited reading from you.”

You were trying to read his memories.

Bucky quickly drew back from you, almost as if you’d burned him. He pulled up his arm slightly, and your eyes widened. “Oh, that’s why,” you noted, “no matter, I saw enough.”

He wondered what you meant, until you stepped into his personal space again.

“Since you’re a wolf, maybe we could make an arrangement. You find me stuff, I’ll help you, simple.”

Bucky bit his lower lip. He was always told not to trust witches, but he was desperate, and your words about Loki seemed undeniable somehow. The rest of the pack looked at him, wary.

“Deal.”


	5. IV

“You know I can’t actually control when I turn, right?” Bucky dryly remarked as he sat next to you, a half-empty bottle of beer between the two of you. You casually dangled your legs over the edge of the cliff.

“Talk about ruining the mood. You know, many people would adore the chance to watch the sundown with the vassal of an ancient eldritch abomination,” you mused, to which he turned to look at you in mild terror. Actually, scratch that, mild was the understatement of the year. “Kidding of course, I’m not _that_ close with the old ones.” You stood up again, stretching as you watched the remainder of the sun disappear behind the horizon with a grin on your face.

Bucky looked at you in confusion, but decided to let it go. There were so many things off about this, and honestly, did he really want to know whether you were buddies with Cthulhu? Okay, maybe he was a little curious. “Look, I can’t help you if I can’t turn,” he said, shaking his head and taking another swig from his bottle.

“Right, that little issue. I figured that maybe, if I pushed you off this cliff, your inner wolf or something would awaken and protect you, but I don’t think that’s quite how it works,” you spoke, at which he spit out his drink. You quickly bent down to press a finger to his lips. “Sssh, don’t worry, I’m not doing that. I know you’re not particularly fond of people messing with your head, right? So I thought that maybe some natural scents would help you.”

At that, you pulled out a basket from… under your coat?! Okay, that had to be magic. You placed item after odd-looking item in the basket, somehow pulling it all from your sleeves. You saw the look he was giving you and reassured him that it was magic, and that you could do it from anywhere on your body really, but it would probably look even weirder.

The items in the basket were all some sort of flora, and before he could ask what you were planning to do, you held up some of the items close to his face, startling him ever so slightly and making him fall back on his behind.

“How about this, does this inspire a transformation?” you asked. Seeing that nothing was happening, you held up several more items, switching some out for others to try to make different combinations of fragrances. It all just confused Bucky’s heightened senses, and he grabbed your arm in defence when it was beginning to overwhelm him. With a frown, he began to speak, until a rather unique smell reached his nose, and he felt a searing pain piercing his skull.

You raised a brow, easily retrieving your hand from him now that he was unfocused. “Really?” you asked, holding up your hands to him, “this?”

Bucky looked up at you, rather suspiciously in your opinion, and awkwardly sniffed your hands. You rolled your eyes at his shame- who did he think you were? You’ve experienced much stranger things. He closed his eyes and felt his ears ringing again, a familiar sense of pressure behind his eyes. “Yeah,” he groaned, “I think that works.”

You let out a very dignified snort. “Frosted plum hand cream huh? If you do your job well, maybe I’ll buy you a tube the next time I stop by the mall,” you said with a grin.

“Why do you even need hand cream, can’t you just use magic or something?”

You let out an exaggerated gasp, putting your hands to your face for dramatic emphasis. “Mr. Barnes, that is _not_ the same thing!”

Bucky rolled his eyes at your antics, though he couldn’t say he completely hated them. It was… something different. “So, it feels like it works, but I don’t know if it really does. And if it does work, how long am I gonna have to smell your hands like a weirdo?”

“I could just bury you in a mountain of plums if you think that helps-“ you started, looking at him completely straight-faced, “but I think it’s easier if I just surround you with the fragrance. Close your eyes, it’s a little like perfume, you don’t wanna get it in your eyes.”

Bucky did as you instructed, and as the scent returned and he focused once more, he could feel a familiar sense of power just on the edge of breaking through within himself. He reached out to it and slowly, he could feel his consciousness merging with that of the wolf within him, mixing essence and becoming as one, losing track of where he really was.

You watched as his form shifted, from the form of a (rather handsome, but this wasn’t the time for that) man to that of a beast. As a werewolf, his limbs were more slender than any normal wolf, yet even for a werewolf you could tell Bucky was a lot… better built for lack of a better word. He was easily almost twice your size, and as he opened his eyes again, you felt your heart beat faster as his pale blue eyes met with yours. Carefully reaching out to him, you let him sniff your hands as way of recognition- then went to put your hands on his face.

Smiling brightly at him, you grabbed a sample of what ingredients you were looking for and held it up to him. He seemed to understand what you were getting at and took in the scents, then quickly scurried off back into the woods. You looked at his disappearing form with a fondness obvious on your face.

Ah shit, you were gonna have to get him new clothes.


	6. V

Now that you’d found out the types of things that were able to encourage, and thus regulate, Bucky’s transformations, you had tried to make several potions to help him. With his feedback, you managed to craft a slightly better version each time. As days turned into weeks, your relationship with him grew stronger, and even if Bucky himself did not want to admit it, he was starting to become quite fond of you, to the point he’d feel himself getting nervous whenever he witnessed you performing your spectacular magical feats. He thought this was normal- even as a werewolf, he couldn’t help but be amazed at the things you did. He’d come home and talk about what he’d done that day, and Sam and Steve would share a look that he found rather odd. They’d tease him about your activities, his almost daily reports warming them up to you even if a little. Prejudice was never easy to cast aside, but they wanted to try for their friend.

“What’s that you got there?” Bucky asked as he walked into your living room, watching you toss around something shiny and silver. You turned to look at him, a grin spreading across your features as you caught the item in your hand once more.

“Close your eyes and come here,” you instructed.

“Do you really want me to walk over with my eyes closed and break your coffee table?” he joked and you rolled your eyes. The two of you had gotten a comfortable sort of relationship where you’d constantly sass each other back and forth, though none of it ever got too malicious. Bucky laughed at your feigned impatience, and moved closer to you, doing as you asked of him. He trusted you not to do anything dangerous to him by now, but he was still taken by surprise when he felt your hands around his neck. He clenched his fists, willing himself to stay still, his fearful feelings making their way to the pits of his stomach. He reminded himself to breathe, that you wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. As you moved away from him, he could feel the cool feeling of something metallic hanging around his neck. A pendant perhaps.

“You can open your eyes now.”

He opened his eyes, his gaze immediately shifting to the small… box? He wasn’t quite sure what it was, it resembled a book, and upon closer inspection, he noticed that he could open it. With a click, the ‘cover’ opened, and he saw a rather strange glowing essence within it. Bucky turned back to you with confusion written all over his face, and you brought your hands together in joy.

“I think this should do the trick. I managed to crystallise the latest potion’s contents, and now that your body has gotten used to receiving the signals, I think it should work in this shape, too. Of course, that’s just a theory,” you explained.

“So this will help me shift? How does it work?” he took a step back, planting himself on the couch and fiddling with the pendant as he examined it, tapping the glowing form a few times and even shaking it. You let out a snort.

“You’ve got to want to shift, you know. It’s not some kind of insta-shift button- just open the book and think about it. Outside, that is, I don’t want you to break my furniture.”

Bucky eyed you, before heading for the front door to try out his new gadget. It took a few minutes, but it worked perfectly.

After having a run around the forests with ease, he returned to your home, slightly out of breath and sweating. You noted that his clothing was mostly intact, and you felt a surge of pride at your magical tailoring. You went up to him, patting him on the chest a few times.

“Not a single button popped, huh?”

Bucky froze for a moment, feeling those familiar nerves overtake him again as you touched him so closely. He blamed it on not having had intimate contact with anyone for years, back in the days, this would surely not faze him. Steve told him he was quite the ladies’ man.

“No, you did good. On that and this,” he said, holding up the pendant between his fingers again.

“Good, good. I’m glad,” you said as you began pacing around the house again, “hopefully, you and your buddies can assist me.”

It occurred to Bucky that he’d never asked you why you were gathering all these hard to find items. Furrowing his brows, he followed behind you as you walked into your room. He was still surprised that you’d let him into such a personal space so easily. As he watched you for a moment, pondering how to bring up the issue delicately, he saw you grab a few papers, reordering them in a binder covered in stickers and scribblings.

“Um, so this might be a bit late,” he sheepishly began, fidgeting with his necklace once more, “but uh… what do you need all these ingredients for? Are you trying to invent some kind of new alchemy recipe?” he asked, avoiding eye contact. He hoped you wouldn’t think him dumb for asking so late, though he found himself confused at why he cared so much about what you thought of him.

His question caught you by surprise, as you were sure you’d mentioned in passing, but perhaps he didn’t understand that you’d meant it literally.

“You know HYDRA, right? This organisation that’s, like, evil, but nobody is sure what exactly they’re doing right now or where they are?” you confirmed with him. You’d read a few of his memories that day in the bar, but you didn’t want to overstep his boundaries, and you weren’t quite sure about his exact involvement with them. You knew that he possessed an intense loathing for them, though, and you managed to connect the dots when he further explained his shifting issues.

“Yeah, I do,” he mumbled with clear disdain in his voice, “you workin’ for them or something?”

For once, you didn’t laugh. Instead, your face was devoid of all emotion as you looked him straight in the eye.

“I’m preparing to summon a portal directly into their headquarters. They stole my heart, and I’d very much like it back.”


End file.
